The present invention relates essentially to a frame member for a vehicle which is capable of being deformed during a vehicular accident to dissipate the kinetic energy absorbed thereby.
Elongate frame members for vehicles are known which are capable of being compressed in the shape of corrugated deformations, when a predetermined minimum stress is applied to the frame members in an axial direction. During the deformation of the frame members, energy is dissipated serving to protect occupants of the vehicle during a collision or accident.
In order to achieve the desired dissipation of energy, frame members have been manufactured, in the past, with corrugations extending over a cross section of the frame members. However, the utilization of frame members having prefabricated corrugations is disadvantageous because the corrugations reduce the buckle-resistance of the frame members. Furthermore, the manufacture of corrugated frame members creates serious problems, since the corrugations extend perpendicular to the bending edges of the frame members. Thus, if the material forming the frame members is provided initially with the corrugations, the shaping of the material to form profiled frame members becomes more difficult. On the other hand, if the material forming the frame members is profiled initially, it becomes difficult to provide the profiled frame members with the corrugations.